Queen Phoebe
by FlowerPower1o1
Summary: Set after Cole's coronation as the Source, but before Phoebe tried to rejoin her sisters. Piper blames herself for Phoebe's defection as Paige tried to hold her family together. *FINAL CHAPTER UP! PLEASE R/R!*
1. Choice of the Charmed

Demons lined the way as Phoebe Halliwell, gowned in black and led by the arm by her husband Cole, the new Source, strode purposefully toward the table on which the Grimoire, the evil Book of Shadows, rested on. They paused as the Seer stepped forward and anointed the palm of Cole's left hand with the proper oils. Cole reached out and placed his hand on the book's cover. Electricity danced from his fingers as Cole's eyes became black and his body burst into flames, harming neither his body nor his clothes.  
  
The assembled demons instantly lowered themselves to one knee. "All hail the Source of all Evil!" they intoned. "All hail his Queen!"  
  
Phoebe, for the first time that night, smiled.  
  
(The next morning)  
  
Paige was the first one down the stairs of the Halliwell Manor. She bore the Book of Shadows under one arm. She walked into the kitchen and stopped, surprised.  
  
Piper was bustling around the kitchen counters, but instead of the meals she normally made in the kitchen, she was instead working on magical potions. Paige cleared her throat. "Um, Piper?" the youngest Charmed One asked. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm making potions," Piper said, not stopping as she poured a hot liquid into a glass bottle. "We know that the Source was crowned last night, and we know that his Queen knows where we live. I'm getting us ready so we can defend ourselves against her."  
  
"Piper, we're talking about Phoebe," Paige said, shocked. "There has to be a way to make her realize that she's still good." She set the book down on the kitchen table, sat down, and flipped it open to the page on the Source. "There must be something in here."  
  
"Phoebe is dead to us," Piper whispered, so low that Paige didn't hear it. Then, louder, she said, "we don't know how long it will take before they come after us. Now that…" she paused momentarily "…has gone over to the side of evil, there is no Power of Three."  
  
Reaching out to grab another glass bottle, she accidentally grabbed a pot bubbling on the stove. She yelled in surprise and jerked her hand back. Her powers, unleashed, blew up a cabinet. Paige prudently withdrew to the attic at that point.  
  
She arrived in the attic just as Leo was orbing in. "How is she?" he asked. Paige knew he had not slept last night, instead choosing to watch over his wife.  
  
Paige frowned. "She's angry – more with herself, I think. She hasn't stopped blaming it on herself since she went to bed last night. She's downstairs making potions, and she's convinced that Phoebe's going to blast her way into the house any second now."  
  
Leo sighed. "This can't be happening, Paige. Phoebe's evil, and Piper's throwing herself into depression. I can't heal Piper's depression, and I can't protect the Queen of all Evil. I don't know what to do."  
  
Paige set the Book of Shadows on its regular pedestal and flipped it open. "I think I do," she said. She closed her eyes and began reading the spell.  
  
"Hear my words, hear my cry. Spirits from the Other Side. Come to me, I summon thee, cross now the Great Divide."  
  
White light shimmered in front of her, taking the shape of three distinct forms. The shape in the center was Patty Halliwell, the mother Piper, Phoebe and Paige. To her left was their grandmother. And to her right was Paige's eldest sister, the former Charmed One, Prue. Each of them looked sad.  
  
Paige looked at them. "You know what happened?"  
  
Grams nodded. "We saw when she and Cole left the Towers with the Grimoire last night," she said sadly.  
  
Paige walked over to the ghostly form of Prue, the woman she had never known when she was alive. "I'm so sorry," she said. She raised her arms, about to hug her, but stopped, realizing that as a ghost Prue was insubstantial.  
  
"We need to find a way to bring Phoebe back," Paige continued, looking at the three ghosts and Leo. "There must be some way – magical or otherwise."  
  
"There isn't, Paige," Patty said. "One of the greatest rules of all is that we can't use spells to manipulate others' minds. I'm sure we would all love to use a spell to bring Phoebe back, but it cannot be done. It will not work, and there might be consequences on you also."  
  
"It was Phoebe's choice," Prue added. "She's stubborn to no end, and she loves Cole to distraction. It's going to be almost impossible to get her to change her mind about him."  
  
"Is there any information in the book about the Queen?" Paige asked.  
  
Grams and Prue both raised their arms, and the pages of the book whipped wildly as they flipped open to a page in the demon chapter.  
  
Paige circled to the book and began reading. " 'The Queen is the bride of the Source'," she read. " 'She only comes into her own when she becomes impregnated with the offspring of the Source.'" She looked up. "So that means that the baby is causing her to be evil?" she asked.  
  
Grams nodded. "The baby's sole purpose is to link Cole and Phoebe by a merger of blood. His essence is intruding itself on her."  
  
Paige skimmed over the rest of the page. "It only tells us what we already know," she complained. "And there's a vanquishing spell. And we are NOT vanquishing her."  
  
The three ghosts suddenly looked up, hearing something Paige could not. "They're calling us back," Prue said. "We'll keep in touch." The three ghosts disappeared as quickly as they had been summoned.  
  
"I'll check with the Elder's," Leo said. "Maybe they know something about this that we don't." He shimmered as he orbed out of the attic.  
  
"Well," a voice said, and Paige spun around to see Phoebe, both hands burning with demonic fire. She was smirking. "Wasn't that an interesting chat?" 


	2. The Seer's Visit

Silly me, I forgot a disclaimer.  
  
I don't own any of these characters, except for Arhama, an upper level demon. I hope that works out.  
  
Phoebe raised her hand, and the fire leapt towards Paige.  
  
"Fire!" Paige called, putting her hand out. The demonic flames disappeared in a flurry of blue lights and reappeared in her hand. The fire leapt from Paige's hand past Phoebe's head, exploding against an old wooden cabinet.  
  
"Nice shot," Phoebe smirked.  
  
"Crystals!" Paige called again. The crystals they had used to vanquish the Source appeared in a swirl of blue light around Phoebe in a hexagonal shape, trapping the Queen of Evil.  
  
"What do you want, Phoebe?" Paige said.  
  
Phoebe widened her eyes, all innocent. "What do you mean, Paige?" she asked. "Is it too much to ask for a woman to see her baby sister?"  
  
"Yes," Paige said with a denouncement she didn't feel. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Phoebe ignored the question, looking past Paige to the Book of Shadows. "It's an old book, Paige," she said. "And old, brittle pages like that are susceptible to fire. You should protect it better."  
  
Paige looked at her. "You were coming to destroy the book, weren't you?"  
  
"Well, duh!" Phoebe said, rolling her eyes. "Your powers are connected directly to it. If I destroyed it, you would be without protection."  
  
Paige walked behind the book and examined the page about the Queen again. "That's not it, is it?" she said. "You didn't want us to find the spell to vanquish you, because you were afraid what the consequences would be if you found it." She smirked, knowing she had found the right answer.  
  
Phoebe snarled. "Damn you."  
  
Paige read over the spell again. It was obviously a spell requiring the Power of Three, but Phoebe just as obviously did not know that. It went;  
  
1 Queen of lies and Queen of blames  
  
Consumed now of dark and flames  
  
We bring you gifts of ice and light  
  
So your powers may take flight  
  
Vanquish we the Queen of Hell  
  
Vanish now as we cast the spell.  
  
Paige put out both her hands. "Crystals," she called. The two crystals in front of Phoebe disappeared and reappeared in her hands, breaking the circle. Phoebe took a step toward Paige.  
  
"Don't come any closer, Phoebe," Paige said. "I can call for your fire, and while you're trying to put yourself out, I can always say the vanquishing spell. Would that destroy you, or the evil in you, or your baby? You don't know, do you?"  
  
Phoebe struggled for a second as she contemplated whether or not to try to destroy the book again. Then, with one more snarl of frustration, she burst into flames and vanished.  
  
There was a noise from the hallway, and Piper came into the room, carrying the potion bottles. "What are you doing, Paige? Why are the crystals out?"  
  
Paige thought quickly. "I, uh, was thinking maybe we could trap Phoebe in the circle until we figure out how to save her," she lied. "I was just testing it."  
  
Phoebe reappeared in the penthouse she lived in with Cole. Empty, for the moment.  
  
She opened the door to her bedroom, intending to bathe after her confrontation, and saw that she actually wasn't alone. "Good afternoon, my Queen," the Seer said.  
  
"What do you want?" she snapped.  
  
The Seer shook her head. "Anger is a useless emotion, my Queen. Completely unbefitting for the bride of the Source." She calmly strode around the room, brushing her fingertips against the petals of a flower in a nearby vase. The flower immediately wilted. "And how was the visit with your sisters?"  
  
Phoebe glared at the Seer. She did not need to know how the Seer knew of her visit. "Why ask me? You were probably watching."  
  
"That spell you were worried about is negligible," the Seer said calmly. "It is a Power of Three Spell. They cannot use it to vanquish the evil in you."  
  
Phoebe stomped her foot and flung out her hand, incinerating the vase of flowers. "I should have known."  
  
"There is another solution." From beneath her robes, the Seer pulled the Grimoire, the evil Book of Shadows. She let it go and it floated in midair, flipping open to a certain page. "There is a vanquishing spell for the Power of Three," she said calmly. "It requires many items which are hard to obtain, which is why none have cast it yet. You need the heart of an Empath, a piece of skin from a white lighter, a jet-black pearl, and the blood of a Charmed One. Darkest magics." The Seer bowed. "I thought I would appraise you of the situation." Then she vanished.  
  
Phoebe took the book and read the spell once. Then twice.  
  
Take the magics I have taken  
  
Draw from darkness long forsaken  
  
Black as night and deep as death  
  
Stop the Three from drawing breath  
  
From the dark of my being I command thee  
  
Erase from existence the Power of Three.  
  
The former Charmed One tapped her chin with one long pointed fingernail. Then she waved her hand. A man, dressed in a black trenchcoat and pants, shimmered into the room. He had long blond hair and a cruel smirk on his lips. He genuflected. "How may I serve my Queen?" he asked.  
  
Phoebe smiled. "Are you familiar with my sisters' white lighter?" 


	3. Leo, Meet Arhama

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters obviously. Wait, correct that. I own Arhama, the upper-level demon, but that's the only one. And now…  
  
Leo orbed back into the house at the bottom of the stairs as Piper and Paige walked downstairs. "Where have you been?" Piper asked.  
  
"I went to the Elders to see if they had any information on how to save Phoebe," the white lighter replied.  
  
"And?" Paige prompted.  
  
Leo shook his head. "She made her own choice, and that can't be altered by magic. Phoebe has to choose for herself to return to us."  
  
Piper sighed and stomped off toward the kitchen. Paige started to follow her, but Leo grabbed her arm. "She needs to think for herself, Paige," he said. "She'll be fine if we give her time. And we probably shouldn't mention that her mother, Prue, and Grams were here. That might upset her more."  
  
Paige sighed. "I just can't stand seeing her like this, Leo," she said. "It's hurting me as much as it's hurting her."  
  
"I know, Paige but we all deal with our problems in different ways."  
  
It was then that the demon from the penthouse shimmered into view behind Leo, holding a ball of purple light in his hand. "Leo!" Paige shouted, shoving him toward the stairs as the demon threw the attack.  
  
"Plasma ball!" Paige shouted, putting out her hand. The ball orbed out of the air and into her hand, and she threw it back at the demon.  
  
The attack hit the demon's hand and exploded, leaving the demon unarmed. He put up both hands and called forth two more plasma balls and threw them both. Paige managed to call one of them, but the other blasted her in the chest, sending her flying into the wall. "Piper!" the witch yelled.  
  
The demon approached Leo and punched him full in the face, knocking him unconscious. He snapped his fingers and a dagger appeared in his hand. He deftly sliced a piece of skin from the white lighter's forearm.  
  
"Hey!" Piper yelled as she ran into the room. "Get the hell away from my husband!" She flung her hands out and the demon exploded, only to come back together unharmed. He sneered. "Not quite powerful enough, I'm afraid," he said. Then he shimmered and vanished.  
  
Paige picked herself off the floor. "What the hell was that?" she muttered.  
  
"Paige!" Piper's voice rang out. "I need you to heal Leo!"  
  
"I don't know if I can," Paige said, kneeling beside him and holding her hands over the wound. At first nothing happened, then slowly a golden light appeared between her palms, slowly healing the cut. Leo groaned and sat up. "Did he get away?"  
  
Piper nodded. "Let's go check the Book of Shadows."  
  
  
  
The Demon Arhama shimmered back into the penthouse, holding the scrap of white lighter flesh in his hands. "Here you are, my Queen," he said.  
  
"Hold on," Phoebe said impatiently. She stood in front of a struggling woman held by two demons. The Source's bride calmly put out her hand and burned the woman, then before she was completely cast into ash, reached into her burning body and removed her heart. "The heart of an Empath," she murmured. She cast it into a waiting copper cauldron on the table, then turned to Arhama. "You have something for me?" she said.  
  
Arhama bowed. "The flesh, my Queen," he said, holding out the tiny scrap.  
  
Phoebe reached out and took the strip of flesh in her fingers. The premonition that struck her nearly knocked her off her feet. She saw Piper and Paige, burning with fire that burned blue instead of normal red, screaming her name before exploding into nothingness. The former Charmed One opened her eyes. "Perfect," she purred.  
  
She placed the flesh in the cauldron also, then called a knife out of thin air just as Arhama had done. She placed the tip of the knife on the end of the pointer finger on her left hand and calmly cut a gash about an inch long into her finger. She let the blood drip from her finger for a minute or so, then calmly put down the knife, summoned a ball of demonic fire in her right hand, and casually cauterized the wound. She smiled, turning back to Arhama and the two demons that had held the Empath. "Now, we just wait for my jet-black pearl," she said.  
  
  
  
The grandfather clock downstairs struck noon as Piper, Paige and Leo read from the Book of Shadows in the attic of Halliwell Manor. "The demon's name is Arhama," Paige read. "He is the personal bodyguard of the Queen, and has the power to throw plasma balls, shimmer, and turn into a white tiger." She nodded. "That's actually pretty cool," she said, looking at Leo. "Do I ever get to turn into a white tiger?"  
  
"The vanquishing spell, Paige," Piper ordered.  
  
Paige looked back down at the book. "Arhama, scourge of men and worse," she read, "suffer greatly from this curse. Light we now the magic pyre, be consumed of your own fire." She looked up at Piper. "I think it's a Power of Three spell."  
  
"Well, of course it is," Piper said, exasperated. "Why should anything about this be easy?" She turned to Leo. "And what was the point of cutting your arm? Was he trying to kill you?"  
  
Leo shook his head. "There's a spell in the Grimoire," he said slowly. "It requires the flesh of a white lighter. I think the Source is trying to kill you."  
  
"Why?" Paige asked, puzzled.  
  
Leo looked at her. "The spell is used to vanquish the Power of Three."  
  
Paige's eyes widened. "Oh."  
  
Later that night  
  
Cole, the Source of all Evil, appeared in a flash of fire in the penthouse. Phoebe was standing by the table, tapping her fingers on its surface, obviously impatient.  
  
"Something wrong?" Cole asked.  
  
"How long can it take to find one jet-black pearl?" she demanded. "I sent that demon out hours ago. He should have come back."  
  
Cole looked confused, then understanding dawned across his face. "The Seer told you of the vanquishing spell."  
  
Phoebe glared at her husband. "At least someone did." She shook her head. "I'm sorry honey, but it's just, I'm still adjusting to the crown, and my sisters don't understand, and"- she raised her voice to a shout – "demons are completely incompetent!"  
  
It was then that Arhama shimmered into view, holding the demon she had sent out. A black stone the size of a closed fist lay in his hand. "I managed to make him a little more efficient, your Majesty," the bodyguard remarked with an oily smirk. "I found him wasting time in the lower catacombs."  
  
"My pearl!" Phoebe said, jumping up and snatching the stone. She waved her hand at the trembling lower demon. "You are dismissed," she said calmly. "Forever."  
  
The demon screamed as his body burst into flame. An instant later, he was gone.  
  
Phoebe turned to the copper cauldron and held the pearl over it. She looked at it for a second, then quite suddenly swung her hand around and crushed the pearl into powder between her palms. The black grit sifted like sand to join the other ingredients in the cauldron. Phoebe waved her hands, and the ingredients caught on fire, melting into a thick red paste.  
  
While the potion simmered, Phoebe turned back to Arhama, a falsely bright smile on her face. "I have another job for you," she said. 


	4. Dinner, Demons and Disaster

Disclaimer: All characters in this story are not mine, except for Arhama, an upper level demon. Just wanted to make that all clear  
  
  
  
Paige orbed back into the parlor of Halliwell Manor, carrying a bag filled with Chinese food in small cardboard boxes. "Dinner is served," she announced, placing the bag on the table. She looked at Piper and Leo, who sat pouring over the Book of Shadows. "Anything?"  
  
Leo shook his head. "It's still the same," he said. "Phoebe has to choose to return."  
  
"But we've got some defense, at least," Piper said, gesturing to the potion bottles next to the book. Her voice was even more monotonous as before, and no expression registered on her face. "Potions to set thing on fire, potions to freeze things, potions to create a magical shield. Phoebe won't get to us until we can find away to cast the vanquishing spell with only two out of three Charmed Ones."  
  
Paige looked shocked. "Vanquish? Piper, she's our SISTER."  
  
"She's the Queen of Evil," Piper said heartlessly. "We can't get emotional over blood ties if she comes here. For all we know, Phoebe, Cole, or Arhama could shimmer in here at any moment."  
  
And, of course, that was when Arhama chose to shimmer in by the staircase. "Good evening, witches," he snarled, throwing a plasma ball. Paige put out her hand, and the ball strangely diverted its course and struck the wall.  
  
"Was that… telekinesis?" Paige said, shocked.  
  
Arhama pulled another plasma ball from midair and threw it. Paige quickly orbed out of the way, and the ball hit the bag of Chinese food, blowing it up.  
  
Paige orbed back in behind him. Using the fighting skills she had inherited when she became a vampire, she sent a flying roundhouse into Arhama's side, sending him falling to the floor. "I paid twenty bucks for that!"  
  
Leo picked up a bottle of potion and flung it at the bodyguard. A shell of impenetrable ice appeared around him. "What do we do now?" he said.  
  
As if in answer, five warlocks, dressed in red robes and all looking exactly alike, blinked into the room. "This gets better and better," Piper said. She flung out her hands and the warlocks froze.  
  
"That should buy us some…" Paige stopped as the warlocks wavered peculiarly and then, with a detonation of light, broke the freeze. "Never mind."  
  
One warlock raised his hand and shot lightning at Leo, who orbed out of the room. Piper raised her arms and flung them out again, and the warlock exploded.  
  
Another warlock waved his hand, and floating blades appeared in front of him. They shot toward Paige. The youngest Charmed One put her hands out again. "Knives!" she called. The blades orbed out in midair and orbed back in facing the other way. The blades bit into their startled caster, who screamed as he burned alive.  
  
Leo orbed back in, his fist catching another warlock as he began to cast his own spell. The warlock stumbled to the floor, and Piper exploded him also.  
  
Another warlock turned to Leo, pulling an energy ball from midair and throwing it at Leo. The white lighter went flying into the wall, unconscious.  
  
Piper raised her hands, trying to help her husband, but the last warlock grabbed her arms from behind. Paige started toward Piper, but the other warlock blinked in front of her, knocking her to the floor, straddling her with his hands around her throat.  
  
In the midst of the fight, they heard the front door open, and heard the click of high heels tapping on the floor.  
  
Piper snapped her head back, catching the warlock holding her in the face. "Ow!" she yelled, rubbing the back of her head. "How can Jackie Chan do that?" She flung her hand out and the warlock exploded.  
  
Then Phoebe came around the corner, stepping around the bubble of ice that held her bodyguard. "Enough!" she said to the warlock that still strangled Paige. The startled warlock blinked out.  
  
The Queen of Evil looked at the unconscious Leo. "Can Paige and Piper come out to play?" she asked the inert white lighter. "I promise I won't be too rough on them." She paused. "Silence gives consent."  
  
Piper picked up one of the potion bottles and threw it at Phoebe. The bottle shattered on her and she screamed as she burst into flames. Paige screamed along with her, a cry of indescribable loss.  
  
Then the flames disappeared and Phoebe was there, smirking. Unharmed. "You call that fire?" she laughed. She put her hand out, and threw a handful of fire at Piper. She ducked, and the fire shattered the windows behind her.  
  
"Potion!" Paige called, and the last bottle of potion appeared in her hand. She shattered it at Phoebe's feet, creating a wall of force between her and the other two Charmed Ones.  
  
Phoebe glared at Paige, then raised her hand and shattered the ice with the demonic fire. Arhama stood up, his eyes blazing.  
  
"Go home, Arhama," Phoebe said. The demon looked at her, amazed.  
  
"Go home," she repeated. "I can deal with my sisters." She said the word 'sisters' with a note of pure contempt. Arhama bowed and shimmered out.  
  
Phoebe turned to her sisters, pulling a vial of thick red liquid from the pocket of her pants. "Now," she said, "where were we?" 


	5. Phoebe Vanquishes

Disclaimer: I, obviously, do not know any of these characters, except for Phoebe's demon bodyguard Arhama. So yes, enjoy the story.  
  
Phoebe raised her hand, and a circle of fire appeared around Piper and Paige. "Phoebe!" Piper yelled.  
  
"Quite," Phoebe said thoughtfully as she uncorked her potion bottle. She snapped her hand out, and her flaming hand penetrated the magical shield, shattering it. Quickly moving, she used the thick red liquid to trace a pentacle on the floor, with the bound witches in the center. "Are you having fun?" she asked.  
  
"Potion!" Paige called, putting out her hand. The potion bottle stayed in Phoebe's hand, but a piece of the fire orbed into her hand. Paige yelled in surprise and dropped the burning ball.  
  
"You'll notice that I became much more prepared since I was crowned," the evil Charmed One laughed. "I wouldn't try to blow me up, Piper. The fire would just reflect it back on you." She finished tracing the pentacle.  
  
"It's the spell Leo told us about," Paige said, looking at Phoebe. "She's trying to vanquish us."  
  
Then there was a flash of fire, and Cole appeared. "Phoebe!" he barked. "What are you doing?"  
  
Phoebe looked up. "I'm doing what you didn't have the stones to do," she said. "Why didn't you tell me about the spell?"  
  
Cole looked at Piper and Paige, then back at Phoebe. The middle sister took the meaning. "We'll be right back," she told the sisters bound in fire. She waved her finger at them. "Stay put!" Then both Cole and Phoebe disappeared in a rush of fire.  
  
They didn't go far, though. They reappeared in the attic. The Book of Shadows instantly flipped shut, the triquatra on the cover glowing red. Cole curled his lip at the book.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me about the damn spell?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Think about it!" Cole yelled, then brought himself under control with a supreme effort. "The spell is to vanquish the Power of Three. You're still a Charmed One, didn't your premonition about the spell show you that?"  
  
Phoebe shook her head. "The premonition didn't show any harm coming to me. Only to Piper and Paige."  
  
"Did you even see yourself in the premonition?"  
  
Phoebe paused.  
  
Cole smirked. "That's what I thought. If you want to kill your sisters, do it the old fashioned way. You don't have to completely destroy the Halliwell line. I'm sending Arhama back to make sure you don't." Then he dissolved into fire, the flames pouring out the open window.  
  
Arhama shimmered into the exact spot where Cole had stood. He bowed. "My Queen," he said.  
  
Phoebe slid his hand across her bodyguard's cheek. Then she whipped her hand out and grabbed his hair, pulling his head back. "Stay out of my way," she snarled, then turned around and went downstairs, pulling the groaning Arhama the entire way.  
  
  
  
Piper flung out her hands, trying to freeze the flames, but they only whipped as if in a wind and continued blazing. The light from the fire glistened on the pentacle.  
  
Paige orbed out, but the orbs did not disappear. Instead, the glowing blue orbs bounced against the fire, unable to penetrate the shield. The orbs gathered again and Paige reappeared. "I can't get out either."  
  
Piper raised her hands, intending to detonate the fire, but remembered the warning Phoebe gave her and stopped. "We're trapped," she said.  
  
"Well, duh!" Phoebe said as she came down the stairs, pulling Arhama by the hair still. "I'm glad to see that you made yourselves comfortable while I was… conferring with my husband. I'll be vanquishing you now."  
  
Arhama groaned. "But, my Queen, the Source said…"  
  
Phoebe pulled his head back and drove her foot into his chest, knocking him on the floor. "I don't care what the Source said at this point." She threw the bodyguard across the room. Then she reached into her cleavage and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it, and there in red ink – it looks like blood, Phoebe thought – was the vanquishing spell.  
  
"Take the magics I have taken," Phoebe said. "Drawn from darkness long forsaken." The pentacle caught fire, but the fire was blue. She smiled. "Black as night and deep as death…" she paused. Something in her chest fluttered uncertainly. "Stop the Three from drawing death."  
  
Piper, Paige and Phoebe all cried out as pain blossomed in their chests. It felt like fire, Phoebe thought. Her vision was turning red.  
  
"Come on, Phoebe," Paige muttered. "Keep reading."  
  
"Are you nuts!?" Piper exclaimed.  
  
"I don't think so," Paige said. "Watch."  
  
With some effort, Phoebe pulled herself up and started again. "From the dark of my being…"  
  
Tendrils of blue-white fire began to cross over the body of the Charmed Ones, Phoebe as well as Paige and Piper. Phoebe stopped, trying to force the spell out. "From the dark of my being…"  
  
Then, with a heart-wrenching shout, Phoebe set fire to the paper the spell was written on. The fire faded from the Charmed Ones, and the pentacle disappeared. The fire circle around Piper and Paige disappeared.  
  
"Piper," Paige said desperately. "Freeze her!"  
  
Piper shook her head. "She's a witch! She won't freeze!"  
  
"But the baby will!"  
  
Piper got the point and flung out her hands. Phoebe stayed where she was on the floor. Then, she looked up, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she breathed.  
  
Then the baby unfroze and the Queen of Evil disappeared in a flash of fire.  
  
"There now," a familiar voice said, and Piper and Paige looked up to see the ghostly figure of Prue floating down the staircase. "Do you still think she's worth saving?" 


	6. The Queen takes a Bath

Disclaimer. I do not own any of these characters, except for Arhama, and he's overrated anyway. So, please don't sue me. Thank you.  
  
"Prue?" Piper said. "Is it really you?"  
  
"In the ectoplasmic flesh," the dead Charmed One said, reaching the floor. She looked at the unconscious form of Arhama. She waved her hand, and the demon disappeared in a flurry of white light.  
  
Leo groaned and got to his feet. He nodded to Prue.  
  
"You didn't answer my question, Piper," Prue said, looking at her sister. "Do you think Phoebe's worth saving?"  
  
Piper looked as if she had been frozen in place. "At this point, I'm not sure," she whispered. "I can't reach her."  
  
Prue looked at the youngest sister. "Paige?" she asked.  
  
Paige nodded. "Phoebe is our sister. We can't give up on letting her know we still love her. There HAS to be a way."  
  
Prue looked finally at Leo. "Leo?" she asked.  
  
Leo breathed out heavily, looking at Piper. "We can't abandon her."  
  
Prue nodded. "I have a message, but I can't tell you all of it. It's from…" she looked up at the ceiling. "The Elders said that Phoebe still must make her choice, but they also said 'her premonitions will guide her.'"  
  
Piper wrinkled her nose. "Her premonitions? What does that mean?"  
  
Prue shook her head. "I'm not allowed to say. That's all I was sent to say." The dead witch raised her hand to Piper, and Piper also put her hand out. For a moment, their fingers interlocked. Then, in a flurry of white lights, Prue vanished.  
  
  
  
Phoebe sat in her bathtub, the tub filled with water and bubbles. She closed her eyes and let her body drift through the water, thinking about the spell.  
  
She was obviously still a Charmed One. The premonition she had had proved that, and the fact that she almost vanquished herself along with her sisters reinforced that proof. Cole had been right. A brief look of irritation crossed her flawless face.  
  
Suddenly, the Seer appeared in the bathroom. "My Queen," she said, bowing. "And how did the affair with your sisters go?"  
  
Phoebe suddenly remembered whose idea the vanquishing spell had been. She exploded out of the bathtub, levitating herself through the air. Heedless of her naked body, she slammed the Seer against the wall with one hand and summoned a ball of demonic fire with the other "You knew," she growled.  
  
"Knew what?" the Seer's face was impassive, but her eyes strayed to the fire in her hand.  
  
"That that spell you told me to cast would vanquish me as well!" the Queen screamed. "That I would have died!"  
  
The Seer summed her captor up with her calm eyes. "I suspected," she said calmly. "I wasn't certain if the demonic powers you now possess would spare you from the spell. That's why I left the choice up to you."  
  
Phoebe relaxed her grip, removing the Seer from the wall. She did not, however, put the fire out. "What do you want?"  
  
The Seer nodded. "Arhama was quite put out with what you did at your sisters' house," she said. "He's torn between two choices. Should he remain loyal to you, as he has been to the last Queen he served, or should he be loyal to the Source and tell him about an act of treason? Cole expressly forbade you to cast the vanquishing spell, remember."  
  
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "What do you suggest?"  
  
The Seer shrugged. "Who am I to tell the Queen of the Underworld a course of action?" she said. "But, if you truly want my opinion, it might be best if Arhama were left out of the picture." She disappeared.  
  
Phoebe grabbed her robe and strode out to the parlor of the penthouse, where she knew Arhama was waiting.  
  
  
  
The Seer returned to her private cave in the Underworld. "Damn it," she growled. "Another plan to kill the witch, wasted."  
  
  
  
The next day, Paige called in to work. "I have a family emergency," she told her boss. "One of my sisters is seriously sick."  
  
Leo orbed next to her just as she was hanging up the phone. "How is Piper doing?" she asked.  
  
Leo shook his head. "I think the fact that Phoebe tried to vanquish her and Prue showed up, all in the space of five minutes, put her over the edge," he said. "She's drawing more into herself."  
  
Paige shook her head. "This is great," she said. "And on top of that, we still have to deal with Arhama."  
  
"You got that right," the smirking Arhama said as he shimmered in, a plasma ball in his hand. 


	7. Phoebe, again? How Charming

Yay! Chapter 7!  
  
Disclaimer; I don't own any of these characters, except for Arhama, and he sucks anyway. I mean, look at what happened when he tried to stop Phoebe from vanquishing her sisters! The hellspawned being is a little bitch! But I digress. The point is, please don't sue me, and enjoy.  
  
Arhama laughed as he threw the plasma ball at Leo, who quickly orbed out and orbed back in.  
  
"Book!" Paige called. The Book of Shadows orbed into her hands, the pages flipping wildly in some unknown wind. They came to rest on the page about Arhama.  
  
"Arhama, scourge of men and worse!" she intoned. "Suffer greatly from this curse! Light we now the magic pyre, be consumed by your own fire!"  
  
Arhama gave a peculiar shimmer and took a step back, recovering after a moment. "You cannot cast the spell unless you have your other two sisters present. Why don't you give them a call?" he smirked. "Oh, that's right. One of them is evil."  
  
"Yeah, wasn't she the one pulling you around by your hair last night like the little dog you are?" Paige retorted.  
  
Arhama growled, pulled an athame from his belt and flung it at Paige.  
  
"Athame!" the young witch/white lighter yelled, orbing the dagger into her hands. She threw it back and embedded it in the demon's shoulder.  
  
Piper ran down the stairs and flung her arms out, freezing the bodyguard for a moment. "What the Hell is going on?" she said.  
  
  
  
Phoebe reeled in the penthouse as a premonition struck her. Arhama and Cole were talking to each other; then Cole turned to glare at her. He waved a hand, and Phoebe was flung across the room and chained to the wall. Time seemed to advance in the premonition, her baby developing within her in the space of a few moments. Finally, she gave birth, and after the Seer delivered the baby, she raised her hand and vanquished the witch without a second thought.  
  
Phoebe gasped as the premonition ended. Arhama meant to tell Cole that she had tried to vanquish her sisters despite his command. Treason against the Source resulted in the same fate, even if the betrayer was his Queen.  
  
Phoebe knew what had to be done. Naturally, her sisters had to be killed. Then, she would use her powers to barbecue Arhama. She would return to Cole, saying that her sisters were dead and Arhama had given his life to ensure that they were destroyed. Phoebe would win out each way, without Cole ever knowing she had tried to betray him. She smiled as she flamed out.  
  
  
  
The Seer smiled in the underworld as she felt her false premonition reach Phoebe's mind. "Excellent," she whispered. Once Arhama was out of the picture, the Seer would be appointed as the Queen's Ward. Then, she thought, the real games would begin.  
  
  
  
Piper and Paige finished saying the vanquishing spell together, and Arhama exploded with a bone-chilling scream that echoed even after he had been vanquished.  
  
Piper straightened herself. "I guess we don't need the Power of Three after all."  
  
Then, the echoes of the scream reappeared as Arhama reformed, looking extremely irate and holding two giant plasma balls in each hand.  
  
"Guess we do," Paige said. She grabbed Piper and orbed them to a deserted field in the City Park.  
  
"Why did you do that, Paige!?" the oldest sister said, shaking free of her grip. Leo orbed after them, confused.  
  
Paige shrugged. "I got tired of cleaning up after demon attacks. Besides, this buys us some time."  
  
Arhama shimmered in, throwing a plasma ball.  
  
"Why do we always have to be proven wrong!" Paige screamed as she raised her hand. The plasma ball stopped in midair, then flew back at Arhama.  
  
That was precisely when Phoebe flamed in front of Arhama and got hit with the plasma ball, knocking both her and Arhama to the ground.  
  
"Strike!" Piper said.  
  
Phoebe climbed to her feet. "Let's see if the Queen of Evil can't pick up a spare." There was a sudden explosion between Paige and Piper, and they were blasted about a hundred yards away from each other, the Book of Shadows falling between them.  
  
"Looks like I'll have to deal with a split," Phoebe laughed as she walked to the Book. The triquatra on the cover glowed an evil red. "Oh, hush," she admonished the Book as she nudged the cover open with one foot.  
  
Arhama looked shocked. "Queen!" he said. "You would consort with the Book of Shadows?"  
  
"You rise above yourself, Arhama," she said thoughtfully without taking her eyes off the pages.  
  
Arhama shook his head. "I shall have to inform the Source of your treason, in that case."  
  
Phoebe spun around, snarling. "And I will have to inform the Source of your unfortunate demise. I'm pregnant, hormonal, cranky, and those tonics the Seer has me taking taste awful, so you managed to catch me in a bad mood. Sucks to be you, my friend." Fire leapt from her hand, striking Arhama and swirling around him, leaving him untouched. Phoebe looked at her hand, shocked, as if she would find the reason to why Arhama had not been vanquished written on her palm.  
  
"I'm the Bodyguard of the Queen," Arhama said. "I was made immune to your powers."  
  
Phoebe's eyes slanted almost closed. "There's still another way." She picked up the Book, which immediately stopped rejecting her. "Sisters," she said calmly, opening to the page on Arhama. Piper and Paige walked tentatively up to her.  
  
"What are you…!" Arhama gasped.  
  
"Arhama, scourge of men and worse," the Power of Three said. "Suffer greatly from our curse. Light we now the magic pyre, be consumed by your own fire!"  
  
Arhama screamed in pain as purple energy from his plasma balls coated his body. The purple net burst into flame, burning away his body.  
  
Phoebe put the book down on the ground and looked at her sisters. "This changes nothing," she said. Then she flamed out. 


	8. Remembering

Disclaimer. I don't own them. I owned Arhama, but he's gone now, so I own no one now. This is the last chapter, but I'm thinking about writing a sequel set in Season Six (that was WAY too many S's.)  
  
Author's note; I said in the chapter where they found the page on Arhama in the Book of Shadows, that Arhama had the ability to change into a white tiger. In the space of time I didn't write, I forgot I gave him this ability. Sorry if you were disappointed.  
  
Lightning lit the Halliwell manor that evening as Paige and Leo sat in the kitchen, drinking tea and listening to the storm outside. "She helped us vanquish her own bodyguard," Paige was saying. "Could that be a sign that she's turning around?"  
  
Leo thought for a second. "It could be," he said finally. "But she also tried to vanquish him after he threatened to inform Cole – the Source – of her treason. Even if Phoebe is Cole's Queen, he would have no choice but to vanquish her or imprison her in the Source's dungeon if she openly defied one of his laws."  
  
Paige sighed. "So she could have been acting out of her own interest. This is so complicated, Leo. Phoebe is the Queen of Evil; Piper is driving herself mad with self-recrimination. Everything's going crazy, except for you and me."  
  
Leo gave a sort of half-smile. "And sometimes I'm not too sure about you."  
  
Paige laughed, then remembered something. "Leo, when Prue was here, she said that 'Phoebe's premonitions would guide her.' What do you think that means?"  
  
"If I had to guess, I'd say that Phoebe will be getting premonitions about saving innocents. She is still a Charmed One, after all," Leo replied. "She still has a sacred duty."  
  
"Let's just hope she gets a couple of those soon," Paige muttered.  
  
  
  
Piper sat on the floor of the attic. The Book of Shadows, open to the page about the Queen, sat in front of her, and Piper's eyes were fixed on the page.  
  
Phoebe had helped them vanquish a demon. Though Piper would never admit it, not even to her husband if he asked, she had felt a wild joy at the action, thinking Phoebe had chosen to renounce her crown and join them. When she flamed out, Piper had been crushed, but still refused to show any emotion. She went through the rest of the day in a half-daze, and when Paige and Leo went downstairs to make tea and wait out the storm, Piper had sneaked away, saying she was tired.  
  
She loved her sister. Piper knew that without a doubt. But Prue's death had created an overpowering sense of responsibility in her. She felt that she needed to look at everything logically, and protect her family at all costs. Logic told her to protect her remaining sister and husband from their own sister and brother-in-law – Piper grimaced at thinking of the Source as her 'brother-in-law' – but her heart told her to love Phoebe and try to find ways to save her.  
  
Piper steeled her heart. She could not be weak now, not when demons were still out there taking orders from her sister. As much as she loved her sister…  
  
  
  
Phoebe stared out the window of her penthouse bedroom, blankly watching the rain pour from the sky. Cole had bought the story that Paige had orbed an athame belonging to Arhama into her hands and threw it through his forehead, so Phoebe was safe.  
  
But she reflected on the truth once more. Being the Queen, she felt a heady rush of power. Evil was intoxicating, the knowledge that she could do whatever she pleased thrilling. But being beside her sisters in the park today, vanquishing Arhama, that had felt right. She remembered the first night she had moved in to the manor with her sisters, in the midst of a storm just like this one. When the attic door had opened, when she had found the Book of Shadows. Silently she closed her eyes and mouthed the spell from memory;  
  
Hear now the words of the witches  
  
The secrets we hid in the night  
  
The oldest of Gods are invoked here  
  
The great work of magic is sought  
  
On this night and on this hour  
  
I call upon the ancient power  
  
Bring the power to us sisters three  
  
We want the power  
  
Bring us the power  
  
Memories flickered through her head, of being at her sisters' side when they vanquished countless demons. Sitting at her sister's funeral, realizing they had another sister, being pushed into the role of the middle sister. She opened her eyes and sighed.  
  
This was her life now. They couldn't understand that. Her place was beside Cole. She loved her sisters, but if they loved her too, they would understand.  
  
Thunder rumbled, interrupting her thoughts. The thunder was giving her such a headache.  
  
There was a knock at the door, and the Seer entered. The sound of chanting from numerous demons sounded from the next room. "My Queen," the Seer said, holding up the silver tray which bore two crystal goblets. "It's time for your tonic."  
  
  
  
And the rest, as they say, is history. 


End file.
